Grooves and Goals with Reva DeVito

The cold weather and dirty snow didn’t keep fans away from Reva DeVito’s headlining show at Mercury Lounge on Friday, Feb. 10. DeVito first broke big with her cover of Sade’s “Sweetest Taboo,” giving audiences a taste of her soulfulness. Now, two years later, she’s touring in support of her debut EP “THE MOVE,” where she has drawn various producers onto her team. Working with the talented Kaytranada on the tracks “THE MOVE” and “SO BAD,” gave her fans two sultry bangers. Producers Com Truise, Birthday Boy, Teklun and Roane Namuh connected the six tracks all together into one cohesive, feel-good project.

While her studio sessions clearly have heart, her live performance outdo the passion listeners hear on her recorded songs. Playing after her openers Grumby and Jil, DeVito teamed up with D. Bravo and headlined an undeniably groovy evening. Moving between her EP tracks to the a cover of Sade to teasing new music, DeVito delighted everyone in attendance. The title track of the EP was definitely a highlight, with Kaytranada’s depth rocking the room and Reva’s warm voice as the icing.

After the show, WSN sat down with DeVito to ask a couple questions about her process and inspirations.

Washington Square News: Who would you say are some of your main musical inspirations?

Reva DeVito: Ah. That’s such a hard question. I don’t know — definitely Eryka Badu, Prince and Billie Holiday. All such great artists.

WSN: So, then what would you say were some of your inspirations for the EP?

RD: Well, it was pretty much pieced together. [We worked with] whatever stuck, I worked with. We came up with 11 tracks, and the label and picked our favorite six.

WSN: What were some of your favorite albums from the last year?

RD: Oh man. Definitely Anderson. Paak, so good. So many good albums from the year, Chance the Rapper, every song on that was a banger.

WSN: Do you have any advice for young artists trying to make it out there?

RD: The most important thing is to try not to be hard on yourself, and don’t take things personal. There have been times where you’ll get told about a spot on a big album, and it’ll fall through. You can’t get down on yourself for that, don’t set high expectations.

WSN: I feel like that goes against what you hear from a lot of people though, to make plans and set high goals that shoot for the stars?

RD: There’s a difference between goals and expectations though. With expectations you can be hard on yourself, but goals leave room. Go hard in the paint, but don’t go hard on yourself.